WASHINGTON – Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), a leading conservative and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s failure to submit a budget to Congress by the statutory deadline yesterday: “Yet again, President Obama has missed the deadline set in law to submit his annual budget to Congress. In fact, this is the fourth time in five years that President Obama has failed to meet this deadline. While the president is doing slightly better than the United States Senate – which hasn’t passed a budget in almost four years – this is still not a record to be proud of. The American people deserve better. “It is unfortunate that the Democrats who control Washington can’t seem to be bothered with fulfilling their responsibilities under our nation’s budget laws. After four straight years of trillion dollar-plus deficits, a $16 trillion-plus national debt, and our nation firmly on its way to becoming Greece if we don’t stop spending money we don’t have, I can think of little that should be a higher priority to President Obama and Senate Democrats than putting forward a budget that shows the American people how they plan to put our nation onto a sustainable fiscal path. “House Republicans have done the job the American people sent us here to do by consistently passing fiscally-responsible budgets. Though Washington Democrats have criticized these budgets, they have yet to offer any real solutions of their own. It’s time for them to get off the sidelines and get into the debate. That’s why just a few weeks ago the House passed legislation to withhold Senators’ pay until they pass a budget, and this week the House will pass legislation requiring the president to submit a balanced budget proposal. In the coming weeks, House Republicans will again pass a budget that puts our nation on a path to a balanced budget within 10 years, and we will again ask Washington Democrats to work with us to find common sense solutions to our nation’s fiscal challenges. For the sake of our economic freedom and security, and the future of our children and grandchildren, we hope they will.”